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The Golden House

A Novel

"A modern American epic set against the panorama of contemporary politics and culture--a hurtling, page-turning mystery that is equal parts The Great Gatsby and The Bonfire of the Vanities On the day of Barack Obama's inauguration, an enigmatic billionaire from foreign shores takes up residence in the architectural jewel of "the Gardens," a cloistered community in New York's Greenwich Village. The neighborhood is a bubble within a bubble, and the residents are immediately intrigued by the eccentric newcomer and his family. Along with his improbable name, untraceable accent, and unmistakable whiff of danger, Nero Golden has brought along his three adult sons: agoraphobic, alcoholic Petya, a brilliant recluse with a tortured mind; Apu, the flamboyant artist, sexually and spiritually omnivorous, famous on twenty blocks; and D, at twenty-two the baby of the family, harboring an explosive secret even from himself. There is no mother, no wife; at least not until Vasilisa, a sleek Russian expat, snags the septuagenarian Nero, becoming the queen to his king--a queen in want of an heir. Our guide to the Goldens' world is their neighbor Rene, an ambitious young filmmaker. Researching a movie about the Goldens, he ingratiates himself into their household. Seduced by their mystique, he is inevitably implicated in their quarrels, their infidelities, and, indeed, their crimes. Meanwhile, like a bad joke, a certain comic-book villain embarks upon a crass presidential run that turns New York upside-down. Set against the strange and exuberant backdrop of current American culture and politics, The Golden House also marks Salman Rushdie's triumphant and exciting return to realism. The result is a modern epic of love and terrorism, loss and reinvention--a powerful, timely story told with the daring and panache that make Salman Rushdie a force of light in our dark new age. Advance praise for The Golden House "A ravishingly well-told, deeply knowledgeable, magnificently insightful, and righteously outraged epic which pos­es timeless questions about the human condition. As Rushdie's blazing tale surges toward its crescendo, life, as it always has, rises stubbornly from the ashes, as does love."--Booklist (starred review) "Where Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities sent up the go-go, me-me Reagan/Bush era, Rushdie's latest novel captures the existential uncertainties of the anxious Obama years. A sort of Great Gatsby for our time: everyone is implicated, no one is innocent, and no one comes out unscathed."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"-- Provided by publisher."When the aristocratic Golden family moves into a self contained pocket of New York City, a park in Greenwich Village called "The Gardens," their past is an absolute mystery. They seem to be hiding in plain sight: Nero Golden, the powerful but shady patriarch, and his sons Petya, a high functioning autistic and recluse; Apu, the successful artist who may or may not be profound; and D, the enchanting youngest son whose gender confusion mirrors the confusion - and possibilities - of the world around him. And finally there is Vasilisa, the Russian beauty who seduces the patriarch to shape their American stories. Our fearless narrator is an aspiring filmmaker who decides the Golden family will be his subject. He gains the trust of this strange family, even as their secrets gradually unfold - love affairs and betrayals, questions of belonging and identity, a murder, an apocalyptic terror attack, a magical, stolen baby, all set against a whirling background in which an insane Presidential Candidate known as only The Joker grows stronger and stronger, and America itself grows mad. And yet The Golden House is a hopeful story, even an inspiring one - a story about the hope that surrounds, and is made brighter by, even the darkest of situations. Overflowing with inventiveness, humor, and a touch of magic, this is a full-throated celebration of human nature, a great American novel, a tale of exile wrapped in a murder mystery, a meditation on the nature of good and evil, a thrilling page turner, and a coming of age story for the ages"-- Provided by publisher.

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Of all Salman Rushidie's novels, this is the one that i find most basic, to the extent of being Americanily ordinary, as a down to earth story. It doesn't feel like it is Rushidie, except in very rare little bits, being overtly straight forward and blunt; here he does not challenge you to labor in thought, nor does he wow you off, it is just a great story. If you have always feared to read Salman Rushidie, this is for you, the matter of fact written "The Golden House" that will dispel all the fears, magic and demons of his "Shame" or "The Satanic Verses', "Midnight Children", "The Ground beneath her feet" and my favorite "The Moors' last Sigh".

This is the first book I’ve read by Salmon Rushdie. I expected it to be dark and satirical, which it is, but I didn’t expect it to be so laugh out loud funny! I love the larger than life characters and how their stories are woven into current events, blending fact and fiction. Similar reads include The Dinner by Herman Koch, Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes, and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-five.

An eminent author like Salman Rushdie writes books to tell more than just a story. So why did he write this book? The author is an expatriate Indian now living in New York. The Golden House is a tale about the devolution of the United States from a time of false hope with the election of Barack Obama to the horror of the new Joker president who represents the debasement of common decency and the depreciation of knowledge and learning. There are many themes: reinvention of self, excessive navel gazing in search of “identity", the corrupting influence of Russia, movies as better representations of and escape from reality, the attack on free speech, celebration of the vulgar and bizarre. Rushdie’s dismay at what is happening in his adopted country runs throughout the book. Yet the author clings to hope for the future in the reconciliation, conflagration, and “rebirth” that comes at the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this brilliant novel. The characters are complex, unusual, and highly varied, perhaps a bit extreme but certainly interesting. The book is rich in description, allusion and references (which in my case, not being an English Lit major, required frequent use of Wikipedia to appreciate). The setting is very contemporary, and for the most part very American, occasionally dealing with current “hot topics” of political and social interest, always in an intelligent and thought provoking way, which given the present situation, can be quite disquieting. While many of the events are dramatic in the extreme, the core issues that are ultimately raised are universal and very human.

A man of extreme wealth immigrates from Mumbai to Manhattan along with his three adult sons. They change their identities and keep the reason for leaving their previous home a mystery though they don't live like recluses, just the opposite, they embrace their new homeland with excess and extravagance.

The Golden House is about this family and the unraveling of their mystery as told by a neighbour, a film maker, who takes an interest in them because he hopes their story will provide the plot for a movie he wants to make.

Rushdie's characters are larger than life, and I mean down right over the top. Indeed, there are no ordinary people in this novel, every one is eccentric, brilliant, extremely talented, very well dressed and beautiful beyond description though Rushdie does his best to describe all the above lavishly and extensively.
In fact he spends so much time on sumptuous imagery, on references to Greek mythology and on quotes that might make sense if I knew author of the quote and the context in which it was being used, I very soon became bored and early on found my self skimming pages to find something that advanced the plot.

The Golden House is an "insiders" book. If the reader knows the locales, events, jargon, trends, author of quotes, context of quotes, the heroes and heroines of Greek mythology and their significance then I imagine you're supposed to feel included, with it, up to date, part of the club, and oh so contemporary. If you don't you're a boob, a rube, a member of the cultural lumpenproletariat and don't deserve to know what's going in his book.

Rushdie obviously is an excellent, clever, educated, intelligent, sophisticated member of the upper crust of society and he sets out to prove that in every paragraph of this book.

The writing is so rich, so decadent I felt the same way I did when during the Holidays I overindulged in Christmas cake, shortbread and mince tarts - well fed, yet ironically, unsatisfied.

Keeping with my New Year's resolution of not enduring to the end books I'm not enjoying, I abandoned The Golden House about a quarter way through.

This is my first Salman Rushdie book, and I must say I find it puzzling but compelling. His writing style is so elegant yet simple that he draws the reader in to a story that is not really that interesting so far (FYI, I haven't finished it--my ebook ran out) at least. I can't give it a big "thumbs up" because of the denseness of writing (yes, simple, elegant, but dense!). I will revise my comment hopefully after I get the ebook (or book) back to finish (I'm halfway through).

I cannot say I enjoyed this book but there was something compelling about it that kept me reading. Nero Golden moves his family of three adult sons from India to Greenwich Village in New York and Rene` tells the story of his life. His life in India remains a mystery till almost the very end. Here in New York, Vasilisa a beautiful woman, traps him into marriage and is intent on producing a heir for Nero's fortune. Does she succeed? There are a lot of questions and Rushdie tells a tale quite well.